Calle del Marqués de Lozoya

Behind the title is a Segovian who devoted his life to studying and protecting Spanish art: Juan de Contreras y López de Ayala, Marquis of Lozoya (1893-1978). Professor of Art History in Valencia, Madrid and Navarre, he wrote more than a hundred books. His major work, the Historia del arte hispánico, was published in five volumes between 1931 and 1949 and left its mark on generations of students. He was director general of Fine Arts for more than a decade, from 1939, and in 1952 founded the Spanish Association of Friends of the Castles, devoted to saving ruined fortresses. In 1976 King Juan Carlos I granted him the grandeeship of Spain. The street occupies a corner of the Estrella neighbourhood, whose streets look to the sky: Estrella Polar, Pez Volador, the plaza de los Astros. The blocks of Marqués de Lozoya were laid out in a C shape to cope with the slope of the ground, so the street curves instead of running straight.